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The National Academy of Sciences has appointed Fiona Harrison and Robert Kennicutt Jr. to co-chair the upcoming Decadal Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Astro2020. The deadline for proposals has also been extended to February 19.

The AAS Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion in Astronomy Graduate Education has submitted its final report to the AAS Board, which has voted to accept it. Members of the Task Force will be presenting the highlights of the report’s findings at a plenary on Tuesday, January 8th at the AAS meeting in Seattle from 11:40 am-12:30 pm in Room 6E.

In addition, there will be a special session organized by the Task Force on Holistic Admissions on Thursday, January 10th from 10-11:30 am in Room 6C:

Back to top.4. The Women of NASA's New Horizons Team Are Breaking Boundaries—in More Ways Than OneFrom: Nicolle Zellner [nzellner_at_albion.edu]

Congratulations to the New Horizons team for the successful encounter with 2014 MU69 (aka Ultima Thule). Mission Ops Manager, Alice Bowman, reported that the spacecraft was "healthy" on January 1 after receiving signals from the edges of the solar system. She is part of the ~30% of the New Horizons staff, and ~25% of the mission’s science leadership, who are women.

Back to top.6. Women In STEM In 2018 Made Major Gains & Here Are 5 Of Their Biggest AccomplishmentsFrom: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]

By JR Thorpe

"In many ways, 2018 was a groundbreaking year. For women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and girls who hope one day to be changing the world through STEM, it's been a showcase of the power of female-led science and innovation. There have also been challenges and powerful lessons, but 2018 for women in STEM was intriguing, barrier-breaking and full of new and exciting discoveries."

Back to top.7. The Year in Science—and What Americans Thought about ItFrom: JoEllen McBride [joellen.mcbride_at_gmail.com]

This whole article is interesting but I am submitting it to AASWOMEN for the last section on Underrepresentation of Women and Minorities in STEM. A Pew Research Center poll of US adults shows similar results to the NASEM report on experiencing harassment in the workplace.